Seven Moments
by Hogwartian123
Summary: After the trauma of war, can two lost souls find love in each other? Written for alohamora080's "One Day" Competition.
1. Chapter 1

**First Impressions**

_June 5th 2001_

Astoria had never seen the Leaky Cauldron as busy as it was that night. It was the grand re-opening, and understandably, many people had arrived to take advantage of the free drinks that were being poured. Astoria sat on a bar stool, sipping Firewhisky from the bottle and surveying the scene before her. Behind the bar bustled Hannah Abbot, the new landlady, who was only a couple of years older than Astoria. Her light blonde hair was tied up, and her cheeks were a rosy red from both the sheer heat of the bar and the exhaustion of serving the customers. In one corner of the room sat a large group of old Warlocks, all clearly very intoxicated, laughing manically as they each impersonated Lord Voldemort. Astoria frowned. While the war was well and truly over, and most of the Death Eaters had been sentenced to life imprisonment in Azkaban, Astoria still vividly remembered that last battle, and walking through the Great Hall, looking desperately for her sister, praying she was still alive...

Astoria shook her head to calm herself, and gazed over at her sister, Daphne, and Daphne's fiancé, Blaise. They were smiling and laughing together, looking deep into each other's eyes as only lovers could. As much as Astoria hated to admit it, she did like Blaise. He made her sister happy, and that was all that mattered.  
Astoria downed the last drop of her Firewhisky and hopped off the bar stool, making her way over to Blaise and Daphne.

"Well, that's me off," she said to them, putting on her green jacket and un-tucking her golden-brown hair from her t-shirt.

"So soon?" Daphne questioned. "It's only ten thirty!"

"You should know by now that ten thirty is Tori's bedtime," Blaise smirked, while Astoria scowled.

Daphne laughed. "Don't tease her Blaise- we all know my baby sister hates being outwitted."

"Oh, he hasn't outwitted me yet," Astoria smirked. She leaned down to hug her sister goodbye. "I'll talk to you tomorrow, yeah?"

"Of course," Daphne replied.

Astoria then turned to Blaise. "I suppose I'll be seeing you too then? Providing Mummy dearest let's you out of the house..."

Blaise scowled, while Daphne tried in vain to stop giggling. Satisfied, Astoria turned from them and walked outside into the warm summer's night.

There are two versions of the next few moments events:

Astoria Greengrass, 18, was walking calmly from the Leaky Cauldron Public House when a hooded man, around 20, walked right into her path, causing her to stumble over her own feet and fall to the ground.

This said young man, however, claims that Miss Greengrass was in fact not walking calmly, but hurriedly from the Leaky Cauldron Public House, and was in a sort of dream-like trance. As she was not looking where she was going, she walked right into his path, causing her to stumble and fall to the ground.

Astoria was now on the ground, positively enraged that she had been placed in such a state by an utter stranger. She looked around her, and saw the stranger walking towards the Leaky Cauldron.

"Excuse me?" she called. The man turned, his face still partially disguised by his hood. "Aren't you going to help me up?"

"Oh... Yes, yes," the man mumbled, walking over and aiding Astoria to her feet.

Astoria brushed herself off, and turned to the man expectantly. "Well?" she questioned.

"Well what?" The man seemed quite confused.

"An apology," Astoria clarified. "You owe me an apology."

"Do I?"

Astoria scowled. "Yes. You walked right into my path and caused me to fall to the ground." Astoria gestured to the stone-cobbled street beneath her.

"If I am not mistaken, _you _walked into _me_."

"Well then you are mistaken. I do not walk into people for no good reason."

"What makes you think I do?"

"The fact that you just _did _walk into me for no good reason."

"I don't have time for this rubbish," the man said, exasperated. "I'm meeting some friends now, and I'm already late, so if you'll excuse me..."

The man went to walk into the pub, when Astoria walked ahead of him and blocked the doorway. "All I ask," she said, trying to keep her tone civil, "is for a simple 'I'm sorry.'"

"In Merlin's name..."

"If you are already late, surely taking 10 seconds to apologise to me won't make any difference?"

"You won't give up, will you?"

"I'm quite resilient, yes."

The man sighed, then chuckled slightly. "I heartily apologise, Miss...?"

"Greengrass. Astoria Greengrass."

The man looked into Astoria's eyes for the first time then, and her light blue eyes met his cold, grey ones. "Daphne's little sister?"

Astoria frowned slightly. A strange, hooded man, knowing her sister? "Who are you?"

The man put his hood down, to reveal rather tousled, platinum blond hair. "Draco. Draco... Malfoy."


	2. Chapter 2

**First Dance**

_June 5th 2002_

The word 'exhausted' did not even come close to describing how Astoria felt. She had been up since the crack of dawn at Daphne's bedside, trying to ease her sister's pre-wedding anxiety. She had then spent the next half of the morning organizing the bridesmaids, making sure her mother wouldn't have a seizure at the sheer chaos of the day and trying to sort out her unusually disobedient hair, all the while trying to appear the picture of calm for Daphne's sake. It was enough to put her in the psychiatric ward at St. Mungo's.

Of course, it all became worth it when she saw Daphne's face light up when she saw how the Marquee had been decorated, how the bridesmaids were organized, and when she walked down the aisle towards her future husband, Blaise Zabini. Daphne had truly looked beautiful that day; her red hair was tied up into a loose, elegant bun, with small ringlets hanging down to frame her face. She wore a long, strapless ivory dress and a tiara bearing the Greengrass family crest, with matching shoes. Her face was radiant, and she had a nervous, yet excited smile on her face. The whole room was in awe of her, which, Astoria thought, was exactly the way it should be.

Astoria, by now, was sitting at a table in the Marquee, alone. The wedding reception was in full swing, and Astoria observed how people were getting more and more intoxicated as the night went on. Blaise's mother, Letisha, was dangling her arms around her latest beau's neck, snogging the face off of him. Astoria retched slightly, then continued to observe the rest of the wedding party; her mother and father were sitting at the opposite table, drinking contentedly; Blaise and Daphne were slow dancing, as they had been all night; the rest of the bridesmaids were sitting with the majority of Blaise's groomsmen, laughing and drinking and snogging the night away. Astoria yawned, then leaned back in her chair, ready for a quick power-nap before she began her last round of drinking.

"Ahem."

Astoria groaned in her sleep. "Go back to bed Daphne, your wedding is tomorrow..."

"Astoria?"

Astoria's eyes fluttered open, and she found that they were dangerously close to a pair of familiar, cold, grey ones.

Astoria leaned backwards, yawned, then looked up at Draco Malfoy, Blaise's best man. She had done a pretty good job of avoiding him that day; since their first encounter a year ago, they had been unexpectedly thrown into each other's company a couple of times ever since, due to the wedding planning. Astoria had felt most uncomfortable during these times. Draco had been a Death Eater, and his father had been one of the closest to the Dark Lord himself. Astoria hated Death Eaters, and anything associated with them, so she tended not to speak to Draco all that often.  
So why was he here? She thought that her dislike of him had been made very clear. "Can I... help you?" Astoria questioned.

Draco sat down next to Astoria, and took a swig from his Firewhisky bottle. "You just seemed lonely, is all."

Astoria coughed at the stench of Draco's breath; a mixture of Firewhisky, Butterbeer, and the Wedding Breakfast. "I was sleeping, I was perfectly alright."

"You've been all alone all night," Draco pointed out, taking another swig of Firewhisky. "Granted, so have I, but I like being alone."

"So do I," Astoria said stoutly. "So, if you'll excuse me..."

Astoria got up to leave, but Draco grabbed her wrist. "Please, stay."

Astoria realised that she hadn't been lonely, Draco had. She sat down again, and patted his shoulder.

"Dance with me?" Draco asked.

Astoria was shocked. Draco was clearly drunk and not thinking straight, but even so, this was an odd request for him to make.

"Since you're chief bridesmaid and I'm the best man," Draco explained.

"Um... Alright. Go on then."

Draco smiled slightly, then got up, took Astoria's hand, and dragged her to the dance floor. He put his hands on her waist, Astoria put her hands on his shoulders, and they began to awkwardly sway to the music.

"It's my birthday, you know," Draco said suddenly, about half-way through the song. "I'm twenty-two today."

"Oh... Happy Birthday then," Astoria replied, awkwardly.  
They swayed in silence for another moment, while Astoria prayed that the song would finish and she could go back to her seat; at least then, no one else would witness the awkward interactions her and Draco had been having.

"You did a great job," Draco said, clearly trying to rescue the conversation. "Planning the wedding."

"It was mostly Daphne, but I suppose most of this morning was my handiwork."

"Why, what happened this morning?" he asked, seeming genuinely interested.

"Well..." Astoria trailed off. She didn't particularly want to tell Blaise's best friend that her sister may not have married Blaise today had it not been for her. "...The, uh, flowers were late."

"Don't lie, Astoria."

Astoria sighed. "Daphne was... She was just a bit nervous this morning, but everyone gets cold feet before their wedding."

"I see," Draco said, nodding slightly. "Blaise was the same. He had me up at 4:30 this morning, asking me if his tie was alright."

Astoria looked over at Blaise and Daphne, who were swaying to the slow song together, looking the picture of the perfect couple. She wondered if they knew, that their spouse had experienced a case of cold feet that very morning?

"Things work out in the end though," Draco said, cutting off her train of thought. "I mean, look at them. They're the happiest I've ever seen them."

And Astoria thought, for just a moment, she had seen a glimmer of a smile from Draco Malfoy.


	3. Chapter 3

**Godparents**

_June 5th 2003_

"Yes sir, I'm afraid it was simply a flash of lightning," Astoria explained to the confused Muggle down the telephone. "Green, you say? That's highly improbable sir..." Astoria then balanced the telephone (a relatively new piece of technology for her; The Ministry deemed it necessary to use them when dealing with the Muggle population) between her shoulder and her head as she sifted through all of the papers on her desk, looking for the file on the said Muggle who was currently rambling down the phone to her. She then found the file- across it, in giant red letters, was printed the word 'Obliviate'. "Sir, if you really feel that it was something out of the ordinary, I could arrange for one of my colleagues to come to your home and perform an inspection. Would that be alright? Okay, sir, please hold while I pass you on to one of my colleagues. Thank you for your patience." Astoria carefully put the phone on hold (she had once accidentally put the phone on speaker and the Muggle had heard everything) and rang her colleague and best friend, Muggle-born Genevieve Perkins.

"Genevieve Perkins, Muggle-Relations, how may I help you?"

"Gen, we have a code silver. I need you to arrange for someone to go out and see a Mr. Upritchard."

"I'm already one step ahead of you, Tori," Genevieve said in her regular, cheery tone. "Just pass him on to me, I've already asked Michael to go out to him."

"Thanks Gen, passing him on."

Astoria put down the phone and sighed contentedly. While she absolutely loved her job in Muggle Relations, talking on the phone with a confused Muggle for sometimes hours on end tested both her patience and her stamina. Astoria glanced at her watch, and was pleasantly surprised when she found that the time was 5.06pm exactly, meaning that she could leave work for the day. She gathered her things, waved goodbye to Genevieve (who was looking exasperated, and was still dealing with the confused Muggle), and went into the lift to take her out of the Ministry of Magic. Just as the lift doors were about to close, however, a memo zoomed into the lift and hit Astoria square in the chest. She picked it up, unfolded it, and read its contents;

_Meet in Leaky Cauldron A.S.A.P. URGENT.  
-D_

A cold chill ran through Astoria. Daphne _never _sent her notes to work, so what could be so important? A million thoughts were rushing through Astoria's mind at that very moment; one of her parents had contracted Dragon Pox; Blaise and Daphne were getting divorced; The Death Eaters had made a return. She shook the last thought out of her mind; All of the Death Eaters were either imprisoned or deceased, so there was no way that they had overthrown the Ministry. Still, she kept a close eye on everyone around her as she made her way out of the building, then apparated to Diagon Alley. Despite the fact that it was a summer's day, the air around the Leaky Cauldron felt bitterly cold. Astoria shivered, then entered the bustling pub.

The pub was not overly busy; mainly full of alcoholic warlocks that laughed loudly and constantly lingered in the pub. Before Astoria had fully closed the pub door, she heard a loud, "Tori!"

Daphne rushed over to Astoria, and enveloped her in a tight hug. "I'm so sorry to have to send you a note to work, I know you were probably worried- Oh, I have so much to tell you!"

Astoria breathed a sigh of relief. Everything was fine, as Daphne was using her cheery voice; she had used it when she told Astoria about her and Blaise; when she had passed her final Healer exam; on her wedding day.

Astoria and Daphne sat down in their favourite booth in the corner; Daphne had taken the liberty of already having a bottle of Firewhisky ready for Astoria, which she happily downed.

"So, what in Merlin's name was so important that you sent me a _memo_?" Astoria questioned, half-laughing.

"I'll tell you soon, but we have to wait for a few more guests..." Daphne replied, cryptically.

Just as Astoria raised a bemused eyebrow at her sister, she heard the door to the Leaky Cauldron open; Blaise Zabini, Daphne's husband, entered, flashing his wife a grin and winking at Astoria, and behind him, entered the last person Astoria had wanted to walk through that door.

Blaise kissed his wife in greeting. "Sorry we're late, but Draco apparently 'couldn't get out of work' quick enough."

"I was in a meeting," Draco retorted. He noticed Astoria. "Hello, again."

"Hello," Astoria returned, feeling incredibly awkward. She and Draco had not spoken much since their dance at the wedding, and she really didn't feel like reliving one of the most awkward situations she had ever found herself placed in.

"Right, so if you two are finished gazing into each other's eyes, Daphne and I brought you here for a reason," Blaise said, with his usual sarcastic tone. Astoria took the opportunity to glare ruefully at him, yet he returned her glare with a dazzling smile. Godric, she hated Blaise at times.

Blaise sat next to Daphne, leaving Draco with no option but to sit next to Astoria, rather awkwardly.

A thought struck Astoria, and in an attempt to appear less awkward, she said, "Happy Birthday, by the way."

Draco raised his head to look at her. "You, uh, remembered?"

"I wasn't that drunk..." Astoria retorted, half-smiling.

Draco chuckled slightly. "Well, thank you."

Astoria heard a light cough, and looked up to see her sister and Blaise giving her identical looks of bemusement. Astoria narrowed her eyes.

"So," Draco said. "The reason you brought us here?"

"Oh, yes," Daphne said, and Astoria noticed that she was trying to keep a smile off of her face.  
Blaise grabbed Daphne's hands in his, and as they looked into each other's eyes, they said, in unison, "We're having a baby!"

Astoria's eyes widened, as her brain tried to process the new information it had just been provided with; her sister was having a baby; she was going to be an aunt; she was inexplicably happy for her sister.

Astoria grinned. "I can't wait to teach my niece or nephew the Greengrass Sass."

Daphne and Astoria laughed, then stood up to hug each other tightly. Out of the corner of her eye, Astoria saw Draco and Blaise share a brief hug, and heard Draco say, "Congratulations."

When Daphne and Astoria sat down, Draco stood up, and said, "Well, I think this calls for a celebratory drink. Same again, everyone?"

As Draco went up to the bar to order drinks, Astoria took the opportunity to hug both her sister and Blaise at the same time. "Just be aware that I am going to spoil that baby rotten."

"Not as rotten as you, I hope," Blaise grinned.

"Oh, Blaise? Before I forget..." Astoria looked around the room ominously, then kicked Blaise in the shin underneath the table.

"ARGH!" Blaise yelled. "ASTORIA, WHAT THE F-?"

"That is for knocking up my sister." Astoria grinned.

Daphne looked pityingly at Blaise and patted his arm in sympathy, while Astoria walked up to the bar to help Draco with drinks.

"Do I need to know what caused Blaise to let out that almighty yell?" Draco asked.

"Not unless you want the same sound to come out of your mouth," Astoria retorted.

Draco laughed, then sighed. An awkward silence fell over the pair.  
"Would you ever want children?" Draco asked.

"If that's a flirting tactic, you really need to work on your game," Astoria replied through nervous laughter.

"No, I'm not flirting," Draco scoffed. "I'm just saying. Have you ever thought about it?"

Astoria pondered that thought, and on reflection, she realised that she had never really thought about having children; she had never needed to. So now that the question had been presented to her, she was lost for words.  
"I... I don't know. It's a huge commitment," Astoria finally replied. "What about you?" If Astoria was honest, Draco didn't seem to be the fatherly type.

"You're right, it's a huge commitment... But I think it would be worthwhile," Draco said, a faint smile crossing his face.

"Oi, Lovebirds? Are we going to get those drinks any time soon?" Blaise shouted across the bar.  
Just as Astoria was about to say a witty retort, Blaise said, "I hope you two are better godparents than you are at buying drinks..."

"GODPARENTS?" Astoria and Draco said simultaneously.

"Yes, Godparents. You both mean the world to us; If anything were to happen to us, we would want our child to go with people we trusted and loved," Daphne replied, smiling warmly.

"The two of you will be spending a lot more time together..." Blaise said suggestively.

Astoria hated Blaise.


End file.
